I remember seeing White Lion open for Ozzy in the late 80s in Irvine. I wasn’t a fan going into the show, but I left as one. That was the “Big Game” tour. They really were an excellent band back in the day.

Now that I think about it, one of the coolest parts of the show was when he thanked audience members for not holding conversations while he’s playing. That’s a problem lately. The performer can hear and notices that shit.

You have some people that spend half their time on their cell phones and the other half of the time babbling away and being inconsiderate during concerts. That’s one of the worst things about attending live music events.

And these are the same people that talk in movie theaters, at the library, drive poorly while on the phone and don’t use their turn signals.

Mike Tramp can still sing really well. He had good arrangements for acoustic versions of the songs His best tunes were “When the Children Cry” and “Little Fighter”. Those two songs alone were worth the price of the ticket, parking and gas to get there. It was a cool trip back to the 80s.

He also hung out upstairs after his set and signed autographs and took pictures well into Stryper’s set. Way cool!

Michael Sweet and Oz Fox from Stryper sounded awesome. They told stories, jokes, talked for a while and played some good tunes.

Michael Sweet and Oz Fox are both underrated. They make a really good guitar team and Oz really can carry a tune.

Their harmonies always sound fantastic live and this was a good showcase for them to play some good songs. Early in the set, their best song was “Calling on You”.

Towards the end of the set, they had 15 year old Gabbie Rae come up and sing “Always There for You”. She’s a great young singer and she nailed it.

And Jeff Scott Soto singing “Fat Bottomed Girls” towards the end of the set. It sounded pretty awesome from up there.

They closed out with “Ready For Love” by Bad Company and “Soldiers Under Command”. It was kind of a bummer that they didn’t play “Free” or “To Hell With The Devil”. I figured those songs were mandatory at any type of Stryper show…

One of the advantages of sitting on the balcony is being able to zoom in and take a picture a good portion of the set list.